Library wants to restore hours

George Austin, Editor

Tuesday

Jan 30, 2007 at 12:01 AM

SOMERSET — The library trustees approved a budget proposal from director Sally Evans last week that would restore some of the hours that the library is open to the public that were cut a few years ago.

SOMERSET — The library trustees approved a budget proposal from director Sally Evans last week that would restore some of the hours that the library is open to the public that were cut a few years ago.

Ms. Evans said it will cost about $15,000 for the library to be open on Fridays.

"It's not a lot of money," Ms. Evans said.

As the town was dealing with decreases in state aid and rises in health insurance a few years ago, budgets for all departments in town were cut. With the cut in its funding, the library had to decide to stay open for one less day a week so it could save money on personnel and utilities, while still keeping its state certification that can have an impact on its patrons' ability to borrow books from other libraries.

The library was closed on Fridays during the school year because of the cuts and on Saturdays during the summer. Ms. Evans said the budget proposal she made last week would allow the library to be open on Fridays during the school year, but not the Saturdays during the summer.

Ms. Evans said the town will have to balance how the library uses state aid and grant money with its appropriation from the town in order to restore some of the hours that the building is open to the public.

"It looks as though this year might be a better year, so we're going to keep our fingers crossed," Ms. Evans said of the budget proposal being approved.

The library has been open 52 hours a week during the summer and 55 hours per week in the winter when the building is also open to the public on Sunday afternoons. If the budget is approved, Ms. Evans said the library will probably be open from 9 a.m .to 5 p.m. on Fridays.

Ms. Evans said part of the problem is that because of the change in days when the public library is open during certain times of the year, people get confused.

Reference Librarian Bonnie Mendes, who was chosen to be the library's next director after Ms. Evans retires on February 16, said it takes two workers to run the library for the Friday, but said four is ideal. She said those workers include two in circulation, one in reference and another in the children's library.

"I know our patrons will be happy," Ms. Mendes of the library getting back some of the hours it lost. "They are still coming in and saying I can't believed your closed on Fridays. As Sally says, you're not a library if you're not accessible."

Ms. Evans proposed a budget of $543,084 for the library for Fiscal Year 2008 which would represent a 2.9 percent increase over the current fiscal year. The budget proposal will be submitted to Town Administrator John McAuliffe who will make a proposal for the town government budget to the selectmen. The budget gets final approval at town meeting where Somerset's voters decide.

Fifteen percent of the library's budget must be spent on books in order for it to maintain its state certification.

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